Wisconsin Primary Elections: Live Coverage And Results

Looking more closely at the religious reasons behind Cruz’s strength in Wisconsin, Pew research indicates 22 percent of the state’s population identifies as evangelical Christian, and 25 percent as Catholic, with 71 percent of the state identifying as Christian of some denomination — an affiliation that tends to be supportive of Cruz. Another 25 percent are “unaffiliated,” including atheists and agnostics. (The nation as a whole is also 71 percent Christian, with a different mix of denominations than Wisconsin.) This weekend, Cruz hosted a screening of the conservative faith-focused film “God’s Not Dead 2” as part of his campaign swing through the state.

Sanders and Cruz are the projected winners in Wisconsin, according to NBC, with 53 percent of voters choosing Cruz in early exit polls. The two were expected to win, given a mix of cultural factors — what people call “Wisconsin nice” (i.e., not favorable to Trump brashness), educational attainment, strong student populations favoring Sanders, and religious affiliation favoring Cruz.

Sanders continues to dominate among self-identified independent voters who choose to cast their ballots in the Democratic primary. He is winning 71 percent of them. Among self-identified Democrats, he’s winning only 50 percent of the vote.